After tough offensive season, SD adds power with Kemp, Myers, Upton

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Padres general manager A.J. Preller wasn't around last June to witness the gory events from the worst single month of offense any team has compiled in baseball's modern era.

But Preller, hired in August, certainly heard enough about the team's miserable month when it hit an anemic .171 -- now that's a June swoon -- the lowest single-month average since the statistic started being tracked in 1914.

Center fielder played three innings at position Sunday, has experience in infield

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Early in camp, Padres manager Bud Black was asked to name all of the players who have taken reps on the practice field at first base in morning drills. Black fell one name short, though that was no great transgression, considering the number of players the Padres looked at early in camp at the position -- 10 of them in all.

Add another name to the list -- center fielder Wil Myers, who played three innings at first base Sunday in the team's victory over the Mariners.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Padres brought some clarity to their muddled bullpen picture on Monday when they traded left-handed reliever Alex Torres to the Mets for right-handed pitcher Cory Mazzoni and a player to be named later.

Torres, acquired by former general manager Josh Byrnes in January 2014, had command issues a year ago, walking 33 in 54 innings, and he never became the true left-on-left option the Padres sought.

Outfielder hits one of Padres' three homers; righty fans seven

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Using three home runs, including two in the fifth inning, the Padres rolled to a 6-3 victory over the Reds on Monday at Goodyear Ballpark.

Matt Kemp, who is batting .375, connected for his fourth homer of the spring with one out in the top of the fourth. Kemp launched a 2-2 pitch from Anthony DeSclafani for a two-run shot to left-center field.

Nick Krueger is a junior majoring in journalism at Arizona State University. This story is part of a Cactus League partnership between MLB.com and ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- In the spring of 2003, then-Dodgers scouting director Logan White and area scout Mike Leuzinger made a stop in Oklahoma City for a high school tournament, determined to get a look at two pitchers on the organization's radar.

Enough time has passed that White, now in his first year with the Padres as a senior adviser to the general manager and pro scouting director, isn't entirely sure who he went to see.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The first time Wil Nieves caught Tyson Ross this spring, the right-hander was having a bit of trouble corralling his pitches, which certainly isn't uncommon for early Spring Training games.

"He was just working on mechanics and bounced a few the first time out," Nieves said. "After that game, he told me, 'Wil, my bad.' I told him I knew how nasty he could be and that he should just work on what he needed to get ready for April."

AJ Cassavell is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajcassavell. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Black hasn't ruled out batting Alonso second in Padres lineup

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Alonso's RBI single 0:18

3/23/15: Yonder Alonso bloops a single into right field, allowing Cameron Maybin to score and giving the Padres a 3-0 lead

By AJ Cassavell
/
MLB.com |

PEORIA, Ariz. -- Bud Black is the first to admit that Yonder Alonso doesn't necessarily fit the No. 2 hitter prototype. That doesn't mean the Padres' skipper has ruled out batting Alonso second in the order this season against right-handed pitchers.

Alonso batted second on Thursday and Friday, and the results -- coincidental or not -- were as good as they possibly could have been. In six plate appearances, he went 5-for-5 with a walk before receiving a day off on Saturday.

Padres righty allows one run, six hits in six innings

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- In what began as a pretty good pitching duel between the Texas bullpen and San Diego starter Tyson Ross ended up with the Padres holding on for a 3-2 victory over the Rangers on Saturday afternoon.

Ross went six innings and allowed two runs on six hits while walking one and striking out 12. His career-high in the regular season is 11 and the most in a Spring Training game since Alex Cobb of the Rays on March 22, 2014. Ross, lined up to be the No. 2 starter in the Padres rotation, has a 2.89 ERA this spring and opponents are hitting .203 off him.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- He has played in the Astros system, was taken by the Red Sox in December's Rule 5 Draft and later traded to the Royals. Then on Thursday, pitcher Jandel Gustave was claimed off waivers by the Padres.

What have the past five months been like for the 22-year-old right-hander?

Top-ranked Renfroe, Hedges holdovers in system, with lower-level talent on the rise

Every Spring Training, prospects get a chance to show what they can do as they prepare for the season ahead. Some are competing for jobs in big league camp, others are prepping for the season as they vie for spots at Minor League affiliates up and down a team's system. MLBPipeline.com will be visiting all 30 camps this spring. Today, we check in on the San Diego Padres.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The Padres' farm system has taken on a dramatically different look since the club hired A.J. Preller as general manager last August. In a series of trades to acquire the likes of Matt Kemp, Wil Myers, Derek Norris and Justin Upton, Preller gave up 10 players on the organization's Top 20 Prospects list from a year ago at this time.

Despaigne powers through in battle for rotation spot

Odrisamer Despaigne allowed a run in five innings in the Padres' 3-3 tie against the D-backs on Thursday.

By Barry M. Bloom
/
MLB.com |

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- With Spring Training coming down to the nitty-gritty, the fight for roster spots and slots in the starting rotation are narrowing.

Thursday's 3-3 tie between the D-backs' and Padres in a Cactus League game at Salt River Fields featured just another such tussle: San Diego right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne and Arizona righty Chase Anderson are both vying for slots in the back end of their respective rotations.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- From his home in Charlotte, Chris Kemp could -- and did -- cover a lot of ground scouting amateur players for the Rangers in his 2009 Dodge Charger. Covering a territory that included eastern Tennessee and the Carolinas, Kemp put 290,000 miles on the car in five years, running it often and running it hard.

These days, though, five months into the job as the Padres' director of international scouting, Kemp has traded those long hours in the Charger for frequent flyer miles and remote locations.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- On Wednesday, Derek Norris became the last of general manager A.J. Preller's notable offseason acquisitions to reach the cheap seats, as the Padres' catcher hit his first home run of the spring against the Dodgers.

In all honesty, Norris, who had scuffled offensively in Cactus League play, would have been content with a clean single at that point.

The Dodgers used relievers throughout, beginning with Juan Nicasio, who allowed two runs in three innings. The fourth Dodgers pitcher, J.P. Howell, was the first one to go unscored upon. Yimi Garcia, the club's No. 15 prospect according to MLB.com, closed the game out with a scoreless ninth and remains in the running for one of the two open bullpen spots.

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. Keep track of @FollowThePadres on Twitter. Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Playing games in Mexico high on CEO Dee's to-do list

Team president also wants to expand Padres' footprint in nearby Southern Calif. counties

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Chris Kemp on scouting the globe 0:56

Padres director of international scouting Chris Kemp discusses his journey around the globe to find young players for the Padres

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The first four-plus weeks of Spring Training have been nearly devoid of drama for the Padres, other than the right knee injury earlier this month that led to surgery for backup catcher Tim Federowicz.

But the final 10 days of camp, and the time leading up to Opening Day on April 6, might just hold a bit more suspense and intrigue.